Tent



April 27, .1943.

N. B. GEDDES TENT Filed July 21; 1941 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 April 27, 1943.

N. a. senor-is TENT Filed July 21, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I: My

(ATTORNEYS.

Patented Apr. 27, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TENT Norman Bel Geddes, New York, N. Y.

Application July .21, 1941, Serial No. 403,299

6 Claims This invention relates to tents, and refers particularly to the structure of large outdoor enclosures of canvas which are adapted to be readily taken down and folded or rolled for packing, transportation and setting up in a new location; the term canvas being intended to include any similar or strong cover material suitable for outdoor enclosing purposes. The structural principles of the present invention are adaptable for various practical uses, a typical instance being a circus tent, and other instances of use beingcovered stadiums or rinks, hangars, barracks or other shelters. In any case the outline or ground area may be of various shapes, the tent roof being of corresponding shape, typically square, although the outline. might enclose the area between any desired arrangement of corners, at least three in number; and the completed structure preferably comprises not only the shaped canvas roof or top, but surrounding side walls extending between the edges of the roof and the ground, although in a broad aspect the side walls may be wholly or partly omitted to afford an open-sided structure.

Large tents or canvas enclosures for circus or similar purposes have long been known, but these have been subject to numerous practical objections, of which the most notable is the extensive interior structure Or skeleton of poles, posts,

struts, cables, ropes and stays which have constituted serious obstructions, both to the operations carried on and to a clear view thereof. A main object of the present invention is to afford a structure of take-down and transportable tent which will be free of the objection mentioned, and interiorly roomy and clear of substantial oblstructions. A further object is to afford a structure of outdoor tents which is easy and safein process of putting up and takin down, and strong, rugged and durable in use. Other objects and advantages of the invention will be explained in the hereinafter following description of a typical embodiment thereof or will be understood by those conversant with the general subject. "To the attainment of such objects and advantages the present invention consists in the novel tent or structure of take-down and transportable enclosure of canvas or the like, and the novel features of arrangement, combination and details of structure herein illustrated or described.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. l is a top plan View of a large tent or canvas enclosure constructed according to the principles of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation view of the tent structure shown in Fig. 1, the same being partly broken away .to show interior construction.

Fig. 3 is a partial view in elevation showing a modification in the disposition of the side wall;

The structure shown in Figs. 1 and 2 will first be described. Surrounding the ground area of the tent, in this instance quadrangular or square, is a system of at least three, in this instance four, tall exterior masts or poles [0, each substantially taller than the roof ridges and peak as will be described, each mast being located at or near one of the four corners of the tent. The masts may be of various types of construction, but for very large tents steel masts of telescoping type, are preferable, permitting compact disposition for transporting or storing. Each mast may stand on the ground by its pedestal ll, suitably anchored against slippage in the process of setting up the tent. At its top end each mast has a head or cap l2 which may support pulleys for the operation of the elevating and supporting cables to be described; and somewhat below the top head is a second head or collar [3 intended for the attachment of the stay ropes by which the mast is to be rigidly held in upright position.

For illustration there are shown for each mast two main stay ropes or wires l4, each extending outwardly in a slanting direction substantially in the same Vertical plane with one of the sides of the tent, these being securely anchored in any suitable manner to the ground points indicated at the feet of these stays, whose slants are shown approximately at 45. Opposite to each main stay I4 is a temporary or erecting rope or guy l5, two of these being shown for each mast, being disposed at a considerably steeper angle than the main stays, and holding the mast inwardly when starting erection. Intermediate between the two main stays l4 and attached to the collar l3 are shown two'additional stays l5 approximately trisecting the approximately 90 angle between the main stays as projected. Thereby a set of four supporting stays, opposed tothe pull of th tent itself, are provided extending in diverging arrangement from the upper end of each mast.

Describing. next the roof or covering portion 20 of the tent, this appears in Fig. l as of the preferable quadrilateral or square outline, although it may be of any polygonal form. The

canvas may be shaped to the quadrangular form I and its parts'are preferably so assembled or tailored as to provide the peak-and-valley structure to be described. Being square there is preferably only a single or central peak 2|, constituting an apex at the highest point of the roof; but naturally if the outline were oblong there might be a tending therefrom not only to the four corners 22 but to the four side midpoints23; Thus ,a

system of four diagonal ridges 24 and four normal ridges is provided, and between these eight ridges extend eight generally similar Valleys 26. It is not necessary that the diagonal and the normal ridges shall be of corresponding elevation and contour, and in fact the disclosed arrangement is advantageous wherein the ridges 25 have their outer portions considerably higher than the ridges 24. This arrangement is accomplished by disposing each of the four corners 22 of the roof at the lowest points of the roof, the midpoints 23 of the roof edges being substantially higher, as best shown in Fig. 2, so that at each side of the tent the edge of the roof takes a desirable arched form, the side walls when used being correspondingly arched, thus permitting entrance openings to be arranged for example midway of one or more of the sides, where the arch of the roof is at the greatest elevation.

The described shaping and disposing of the roof canvas is well illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, and consideration will show that, radiating from the peak or apex 2 I, is a system of eight valleys, each slanting downwardly from the peak to the roof edge and each bounded by a high or normal ridge at one side and a low or diagonal ridge at the other side; although the number of ridges and valleys, and their relative arrangements, might be variously modified within the principles of the invention.

For the purpose of strengthening the canvas material of the roof 2! and for attaching suspension ropes or cords to serve as hangers, to be further described, the roof is preferably reinforced with a system of strengthening cords 28, variously arranged, for example in parallel intersecting rows as shown in Fig. 1, and the points of intersection thereof may constitute attachment points for the hangers.

The wholly exterior means for positioning and suspending the roof at the elevation and of the shape illustrated and described is shown in an illustrative form in the drawings. Extending diagonally across the ground area, above the tent roof, is shown a pair of suspension cables each of which passes from the top end of one mast to that of the diagonally opposite mast, and each of these cables dipping downwardly by gravity in the usual form of a catenary curve; and these two may be considered the main catenaries of the suspension system of the tent. Each of the masts is shown as provided with a number of pulleys 3| at its top end, for example hung from the top head or cap [2, and each of the two catenaries 30 passes over the middle one of these pulleys 3| on each mast and thence downwardly to one of a set of winches 32, accessible from the ground. By this arrangement each of the catenaries may be hauled from the ground upwardly into operative position by the action of the winches which handle the opposite ends of the catenary. By a practical method of erection all four winches may be driven in unison to lift the two diagonal cables from the ground into position. It is assumed of course that the catenaries have previously had attached to them the canvas hanging means to be described. The total system of erecting a large tent .is thus greatly simplified, since the various components can be arranged and assembled upon the ground, in the area between the four masts, and when everything is ready the word can be given and the catenaries, the hangers, and the roof and other parts of the tent can be drawn upwardly into theirfinal positions; this contrast- 2,317,es2 i ing radically with conventional tents and systems of setting them up.

Each of the main catenaries 30 has attached to it a series of depending hangers, in the form of suspension ropes 35, which may be attached to the catenaries at points vertically above the intersection points of the roof reinforcing cords 28 already mentioned. Thus a single hanger 35 extends from the intersection of the two catenaries vertically downwardly to the peak 2| of the tent roof, and spaced diagonally therefrom in each direction are further such suspending ropes, growing progressively longer both by reason of the general arched shape of the roof and the downwardly dipping shape of the catenary, until the final hanger rope in each of these series extends the maximum distance from one corner 22 of the roof upwardly to a corresponding point on the catenary. For simplification the hangers are shown disposed vertically but obviously might be somewhat slanted therefrom.

By the system of main catenaries 3D and the hangers 35 thus described, the peak 2| of the tent roof and each of the diagonal ridges 24 are established, these ridges, as seen in Fig. 2, being somewhat higher than the low points of the valleys 26 which radiate between ridges.

In addition to the main or diagonal catenaries 30 there is preferably a system of side catenaries 40, in this instance four, also in the form of cables, extending from mast to mast, and passing over high pulleys SI and downwardly to winches 32 as before. These side catenaries may for convenience be set at substantially the same height as the diagonal ones, so that in elevation view they may approximately coincide. In top View however each of them is seen to take an inward curvature, due to the fact that these side catenaries are suspended from mast to mast and operate through slanted hangers 42 to support the side edges of the tent roof. As with the main catenaries, the hanger ropes 42 are distributed along the length of each catenary, but as seen in Fig. 2 the hangers are slanted downwardly and inwardly from the catenary to spaced points along the side edge of the roof, which is thus caused to take an arched shape owing to the regular differentiation in the lengths of the successive hangers. The central one of the side hangers '12 supporting the side mid-point 23 is thus the shortest of the hangers along each edge, the final one, suspending the side corner 22 of the roof, being the longest of the series. As with the hangers 35, the drawings show the predetermined gradation in the lengths of the. hangers 42, which thus require no further detail description. The particular structure and arrangement of thehangers '42 afford the contour which creates the ridges 25 each extending, with a slight dip or downcurve, from the roof peak 2| to one of the side mid-points 23.

The combined systems of hangers 35 from the diagonal cables and 42 from the side cables would not in themselves be sufficient to maintain the roof extended laterally for the desired positioning of its arched side edges and therefore supplemental means is provided-to afford an outward stress or tension securing this object. This is shown as performed by the provision of a series of stays 0r ropes 44 which may be considered as constituting continuations of the hangers 42. The several stays 44, which may be ropes, or' may be posts to act as struts, are indicated as attached to the tent roof edges at the same points with the attachment of the hangers 42, and the stays 44 are slanted downwardly and outwardly to a series of ground tie points or stakes 45. The cooperation of the hangers 42 and the stays 44 in holding in position the edges of the tent roof will be perceived by considering their arrangement as seen at the left or right sides of Fig. 2, each hanger with its continuation or stay providing a tensional triangle pulling outwardly upon the roof material in cooperation with the suspension of the latter by the hangers 35 and the hangers 42.

As thus far described the tent may be considered complete if it is to be of open construction, with outside walls. The objects previously mentioned have been secured, and the entire interior space beneath the canvas roof is without obstruction by poles, posts, struts, cables or stays, while the roof is strongly and positively positioned in the desired arrangement, generally arched to the peak 2| at the center, and arched also at each side edge, with the corners 22, in this instance, at the lowest points of the roof.

However, it is usually preferable to have side walls of canvas at one or more or all of the sides of the tent, and such side Walls 50 are illustrated, extending from the roof edges downwardly to the ground, where they may be tied or anchored by stakes in a usual manner. In Figs. 1 and 2 the side walls 50 are indicated as dropping vertically from the roof edges to the ground, a sometimes desirable arrangement. In Fig. 3 however is shown the modification that the tent walls are slanted outwardly from the roof to the ground,

preferably by disposing the wall canvas around the contour of the stays 44, partaking of the slanting disposition of the stays, and thus adding to the interior space of the tent the volume of these shed-like extensions around one or more or all sides of the tent. Whatever the arrangement of side walls, suitable access doors are to be understood, but are not herein illustrated because not constituting a part of the present invention.

The described tent structure afiords the advantages mentioned. The roof is arched, and of polygonal shape. Overhead means sustains the roof from above, supported by the tall masts between which is located the tent. These means sustain the roof not merely at its side edges and its peak or peaks, but at points between the peak and edges, so that the generally arched form is "maintained and yet without interior obstruction or even sight of the sustaining means. Ridges are formed, the diagonal ones from the peak to the corners and the normal or perpendicular ones to the midpoints of the sides.

Catenaries and graduated hangers give position to the peak and ridges. The enclosed valleys slope downward, radiating from the peak, and drain beyond the tent area. The entire structure, assembled at ground level, is raised by simple hauling on the catenary cables, each passing around its pulley and down to an operating point, with winch either motor or hand operated. The strengths of cables, stays, hangers etc. are readily determined to allow for all stresses, not only the dead load or pull but the live or wind-produced stresses on the elements.

Many modifications of structure, arrangement and detail are possible. As an example the side catenaries 40, instead of being supported directly from the masts may be attached to the diagonal catenaries 30 at points vertically above the tent roof side edges, so that the elements 40 and 42 need not have the slanting arrangement seen in Fig. 2.

What is claimed is:

1. A take-down and transportable large tent or outdoor enclosure of canvas or like cover material free of substantial interior obstruction, the same comprising the shaped canvas roof or top, as square, in combination with a surrounding system of more than two, as four, stayed masts substantially taller than the roof peak; overhead main or diagonal catenaries strung across from mast to mast above the roof, with series of graduated hangers depending along the lengths of said catenaries and sustaining the roof along lines of attaching points to produce a disposition having diagonal roof ridges diverging and descending from an interior peak; and peripheral catenaries from mast to mast with series of depending hangers along each thereof of graduated lengths to sustain the corresponding roof side edge in a non-sagging or upwardly arched disposition.

2. A large tent as in'claim 1 and wherein the hangers below each of the peripheral catenaries are graduated to dispose the roof side edge with a notable arch; and there are canvas side walls extending from such arched side edges to the ground and adapted to accommodate tall entrance openings.

3. A tent as in claim 1 and wherein the roof side edges are notably arched, thus providing intermediate roof ridges from peak to edge between {said diagonal roof ridges.

enaries and sustaining the roof along lines of attaching points to produce a disposition having roof ridges downslanting and diagonally diverging from the peak; and peripheral catenaries dipping from mast to mast withseries of depending hangers along each thereof of graduated lengths to sustain the corresponding roof side edge in an upwardly arched disposition, said peripheral catenary and hangers depending therefrom being inwardly slanted from the mast line downwardly to the roof edge.

5. A tent as in claim 4 and wherein are a series of stays extending downwardly with outslant from the arched roof edge to the ground and cooperating with said hangers to fix the position of the arched roof edge.

6. A tent as in claim 4 and wherein are a see ries of stays extending downwardly with outslant from the arched roof edge to the ground and cooperating with said hangers to fix the position of the arched roof edge; and wherein is a canvas side wall extending from each arched roof edge to the ground, the same being disposed in an outslanting position adjacent to said outslanting stays, and secured or pegged to the ground.

NORMAN BEL GEDDES. 

